In most cases, when master students and doctoral students publish scientific research papers, the first author is their own tutor, which is not only unconventional, but also reasonable. Because the situation is often that the research topic is the tutor's, and the paper is completed under the guidance of the tutor. At this time, no matter from the point of view of morality or rights, the signature of the tutor is beyond reproach, because the key idea (which is the most important thing in scientific research, and is customarily called "idea") comes from the tutor, and the students invest and contribute ordinary work, knowledge, energy and time. We can say that even in other cases, the background of tutor status and school administrative power is not the decisive factor.
But it is obvious that the Department of Telecommunications (and other units) of Huazhong University of Science and Technology has other plans. If the tutor's signature is the priority of rights and morality, there is no need to waste your breath. Obviously, this provision aims to achieve this goal: to obtain the legal right to sign first when the tutor should not have signed first.
One of the reasons for this provision is that "tutors can be responsible for the articles published by their students and check the contents of the articles". Many tutors said: "The first author is not the tutor himself, so why should the tutor take responsibility?" This reason does not hold water. Since all authors have to bear the responsibility for their signatures in scientific research papers, how can there be a reason why they are not the first author and have no responsibility? There have been such cases before: students plagiarized, and the tutor said that I knew nothing, and I was not the first author. This reason is ridiculous. If it's none of your business, why do you want to be a second author?
The second reason is: "Doctoral students are the first author of the thesis, and they will take away these achievements after graduation, which will further affect the scientific research strength of our school in competition with schools of the same grade." This reason may be the real reason for the introduction of regulations, but it is unreasonable. Obviously, if a doctoral student's performance is big enough to play a decisive role in the school ranking competition, then it is logical to keep him or her; If grades are not so important, or there are more important reasons for not retaining talents, then we can't just consider the competition of school rankings, so that we can do everything to the point of ignoring rights and moral legitimacy.
The following content in the report is shocking and angry: "In some cases, if a tutor thinks that an article is useless to him, he will give the right of first signature to other teachers in the laboratory, which is like laboratory welfare!" This is a blatant plunder of graduate students' due rights, and it is immoral and infringing to treat others' achievements as human feelings, whether it is the giver or the receiver.
In a sense, it is more serious and worthy of attention for administrative or academic institutions to issue regulations that distort the right of signature of papers than a specific violation of the right of signature. Because it will create more than one event, but many events that infringe the signature right; Because it legalizes the infringement of the right of signature and covers up the immoral problem in the name of unit ranking; It will also gradually form an atmosphere in schools and scientific research institutions, which will make people indifferent to moral sense and the legitimacy of rights because they conform to paternalism or succumb to administrative power.